My dear Ethereum community,
Today, I’m excited to turn the page and share that I will be closing this chapter as Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation soon and stepping into a new role as its President. This new opportunity will allow me to continue supporting EF’s institutional relationships, and to expand the reach of our vision and culture more broadly. I’m feeling deeply grateful and enthusiastic for what’s ahead, and while I made this decision a year ago, recent events have given me the perfect opportunity to reflect on what truly matters to me.
These past few weeks have illuminated something profound about Ethereum — a truth that becomes clearest in moments of tension, when debates arise over the network’s performance or ETH’s market value. Across the globe, teams and individuals speak of Ethereum as if it were their own, yet this very tension is where our greatest strength lies: Ethereum belongs to everyone precisely because it belongs to no one. Our culture of permissionlessness doesn’t just tolerate disagreement — it grows stronger through it. And in the midst of it all, we’ve seen new, hopeful energy emerge, reminding me that it’s often in darkness that we notice the north star—something we too often take for granted.
I’d like to borrow from Stewart Brand’s Pace Layering to explain how I view things in Ethereum. He presents a framework for how the world works, which was inspired by Brian Eno’s Shearing Layers. Over time, this model has shaped the thinking of a diverse group of influential people, technologists, artists, futurists, and organizations alike.
Upholding Ethereum’s Values
Where does Ethereum fit within these layers? Is it in the fast-moving outer layers, where rapid experimentation happens? Or at the core, where nature and culture evolve more slowly? I don’t think the answer lies entirely in either. If we want Ethereum to be more than a short-term product, if we want it to weave into the fabric of the world for the long term, we need all layers, moving at all paces. And if we don’t want Ethereum to ever be confined to a short-term product of one company, then all layers cannot—and should not—be dominated by EF.
The Ethereum Foundation works to identify gaps and imbalances across these layers. EF’s role has never been to control or own all domains in Ethereum. Instead, our responsibility—our accountability—lies in upholding Ethereum’s values. Through both our actions and our non-actions, we are accountable for ensuring that Ethereum remains resilient, not just as a network, but as a broader ecosystem of people, ideas, and values—never reduced to a single organization’s product.
The value of credible neutrality doesn’t mean treating everything equally, it means making principled choices that protect Ethereum’s integrity at its core. Our philosophy of subtraction is often misunderstood: It is not minimalism, nor does it mean doing less for the sake of it. It is a form of subtractive design thinking that focuses on outcomes rather than rigid methods. Subtraction is not the process, but the result we strive for: a landscape with fewer imbalances, and less centralization that could compromise Ethereum’s values. Instead of assuming that less is always better, this mindset recognizes that achieving balance often requires thoughtful complexity or adding new mechanisms to ensure that no one entity, EF included, dominates Ethereum’s evolution.
Guided by philosophy
EF has helped bootstrap new projects, new organizations and new heroes by owning only what we were best suited to own. Countless decisions, guided by this philosophy, have helped Ethereum become the largest ecosystem of its kind while keeping its potential infinite. Ethereum can do everything, be everywhere, and serve everyone, with each domain powered by the brightest minds, and above all, it must remain free from capture. These values are our north star, and this is how we achieve the original vision of Ethereum as the world computer.
This philosophy flows through everything we do.
Some examples of where our actions have impacted Ethereum R&D and infrastructure:
- Instead of controlling, we steward All Core Dev calls to create space for technical decisions to emerge through community wisdom.
- We promote client diversity, not just in number, but for clients to be successful and maintained by different teams across the ecosystem to avoid single points of failure. The client incentive program has also been supporting client teams in their work.
- We support the coordination of R&D interop retreats, knowing that real breakthroughs happen when diverse teams cross-pollinate ideas.
- Some efforts begin as seeds that we plant—like Account Abstraction or cross-L2 coordination, but they are designed to grow beyond our initial tending and now flourish through community cultivation.
- The Merge, and the shift to proof of stake, was nothing short of a mission-impossible. Not only because it had to be executed seamlessly while thousands of applications continued running, but because it required a delicate balance: leadership without control, coordination without centralization.
Devcon has grown into something truly unique within the Ethereum ecosystem. It is not a normal conference, and it provides a space where community hubs and domain-specific events are led by those driving progress in their own corners of the ecosystem. We focus on nurturing leadership within diverse communities, empowering them to shape their own visions and connect with their people. Although this approach makes coordination more complex, demands more time and resources, and requires us to embrace a level of unpredictability, we believe this is the best way to reflect what Ethereum truly is—a network of independent yet interconnected communities, each contributing to the whole. Devconnect, which we’ve hosted since 2021, is a natural extension of this philosophy: creating spaces for deep, focused collaboration while allowing different communities to lead in their own way.
In executing our efforts with this philosophy, I have encouraged our team to keep a key principle in mind: EF must keep evolving, just as Ethereum itself is a living, dynamic entity. However, we must avoid evolving like a traditional corporation, because our goal isn’t for EF to “win” – it is for Ethereum to win over the long-term while staying true to its core values. As the ecosystem’s needs evolve, our focus shifts from simply asking, “How can EF execute this?” to “How can Ethereum accomplish this, and what role should EF play?” This doesn’t mean stepping back; rather, we step forward with purpose, strategy, and intention, always guided by our mission to preserve the integrity and values of Ethereum.
Subtraction, not minimalism
Long-term sustainability, not short-term gain
Thoughtful complexity, not oversimplification
Stewardship, not control
Adaptive growth, not rigid structure
Purposeful evolution, not corporate-like expansion
Community leadership, not dominance
Irreplaceably Unique
It’s been amazing to witness this growth of the ecosystem. Seven years ago, when I joined EF, Ethereum had fewer voices. Participation—both in building and securing the network—was concentrated in fewer hands and regions. Back then, as an Eclectic Dreamer (a title I preferred over Executive Director), I often asked myself: What makes Ethereum not just different, but irreplaceably unique? The answer was always clear yet profound: true resilience, rooted in Ethereum’s values. Ethereum doesn’t grow like a machine; it grows like a garden, strengthened by its biodiversity, flourishing because the game as a whole is infinite. This vision—the Infinite Garden—was born from that realization. Today, Ethereum thrives as a collage of voices: core developers and researchers refining the protocol, L2 teams enabling scalability, application builders bridging Ethereum to the real world, and local communities shaping its future in their own ways. This richness—where technical and social innovation intertwine and influence each other—isn’t just a feature of Ethereum; it’s the reason it endures.
When we hear “decentralization is the only way to build in my country” from someone in a place where democracy is broken, it reminds us how Ethereum’s technical choices carry profound human implications. While this infinite game cannot be played by EF alone, we remain committed to upholding the values that allow Ethereum’s technical and social innovation to continue to serve humanity.
Thank you
When I first discussed the possibility of transitioning to President with Vitalik a year ago, it was with the intention of continuing to nurture the unique culture of Ethereum, and serving as a voice to bridge the gap between Ethereum and the broader global community. As in the Pace Layering, culture moves the slowest, yet it provides a strong foundation for everything that follows (“If the slow parts are not occasionally frustrating, they are not doing their job – SB”). Culture endures far beyond market cycles, sustains us through winter, and propels us through spring.
Thank you to every single person who was part of my journey during my last seven years, and to those who encouraged me to stay true to myself. Growing EF and supporting Ethereum often required unconventional approaches, and decisions that challenged traditional organizational wisdom. I’m deeply grateful to those who inspired me to stay bold, and to trust that pursuing our values would light the path forward. It has never been an easy ride, and I could not have made it without you. And my deep appreciation to everyone at the Ethereum Foundation, past and present, who patiently and courageously participated in this extraordinary and unconventional journey together.
Thank you to all of you who keep reminding me why we are here in the first place.
Let’s continue building in the garden.
—
Aya Miyaguchi
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